*Deep Breath*
When I am so overwhelmed with emotions, I had to talk, I had to blog.
That’s how I calm myself down.

More than 3 hours ago, I could have lost Binbin…. for good.
When he was still a toddler, I lost him once in a shopping mall (Read here: “Child Independence“) and never came close to losing him again whenever we go shopping.
Then, I nearly caused him to drown when he was 3 years old (Read here: “Nearly Lost Him Again“)

For the two incidents above, it was my negligence, I can only blame myself.
But what happened just now………..was beyond my control…….

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We were in the car, on the way to a familiar coffeeshop to have our dinner.
Allan was driving, I was beside him and the kids were in the backseat.
The music player was on and the boys were singing along.
Suddenly, Binbin SCREAMED!“Ahhhhh…..*catching breath* Ahhhhh…….”He went on.

I turned my head and asked: “What’s Wrong?!”
Binbin: “Got Cockroach!”

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Let me give you a little background of my family with regards to cockroach.
I am the ONLY ONE in the family who dare to catch live cockroaches.
So I am the cockroach warrior in my family.
However, my bravery is only up to a certain level.
If its an adult cockroach, I will become wary…..and when it chooses to spread its WINGS, I will be the first to run away screaming!

I am used to smacking cockroaches in the car.
Not that it happens often though.
Just that whenever that happens, they will shout for me, like how fans would scream the name of their idols on stage, in a concert.

So when I heard Binbin shouted: “Got Cockroach!” and Kitkit kept going “Ahhhh…Ahhhh…Ahhh….”
I simply said: “Wind down the windows.”
I was ready to flick the cockroach out of the window.

My eyes scanned around the poorly lit interior of the car, hoping to locate the Big cockroach, so that I can keep an eye on it, in case it decides to fly or crawl towards me.But instead of spotting the cockroach, I saw something that FROZE my heart!The car door beside Binbin was opened! Binbin’s eyes were still staring at the cockroach, but his right hand was holding onto the half-opened door and he was semi-standing on the edge of the car. His right arm was out of the car. His butt was out of the car. His back was almost fully out of the car too. He was READY TO JUMP OUT OF THE CAR!!!!
If he had lost his balance or a car from behind decides to overtake our car from the right, Binbin could have ____________!!!!!

Damn!
My heart is racing again as I recall that moment.
He had fear in his eyes (because of the cockroach) and I had FEAR in my eyes too, but for a totally different reason, a life-threatening reason!!!!!
I YELLED: “BINBIN, CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!”
He hesitated for a second or two.
He did not want to close the door.
He did not want to be near to the cockroach!
I YELLED again!“BINBIN, ITS VERY DANGEROUS!!! CLOSE THE DOOR NOW!!!”
He slammed it reluctantly and edged himself against the closed door with eyes like a hawk staring at the cockroach.

The car door is always locked whenever the car starts to move.
I asked if Allan had unlocked the doors.
He said no.
I asked if Binbin unlocked his door, he said it was already unlocked, that’s why he could open the door.

Till now, I have no idea why was the door unlocked.
The traffic light turned red.
We had no choice but to stop at the junction.
The four of us were in fear, especially me, who have yet to spot the sight of the cockroach.
With Kitkit going “Ahhh…(paused)Ahhhh….(paused)“, I know it was moving.
Those few seconds at the traffic light seemed like minutes!!!
The tension in the car was so high!

Light turned Green!
The four of us were so uptight that we started shouting in the car!
Man!
It was a mess!
Me: “Turn into the carpark. Here! Here!”
Binbin: “So can I open the door now?”
Me: “NOOOOOOOOO! Go out from Gor Gor’s side!”[Gor Gor = Big Brother]
Binbin: “But the cockroach is at Gor Gor’s side!”
Allan: “Ok! Then go out from your side!”
Me: “Not now! Wait for Car to stop!”
Binbin: “Now? Can? Now????!!!”

Allan pulled over.
Everyone jumped out!
As I recall, I think we were very comical when we jumped out in unison!
*laugh*

Obviously, we did not have insecticides in the car.
Allan: “Spray Febreeze on it?!” [Febreeze = an air freshener which we use to spray inside the car, to get rid of odours created by food or wet umbrellas.]
Me *half giggling*: “Huh?! Ok ok……Spray alot! So that the wings are wet and it cannot fly!”

I think the fragrance had sedative effects on the cockroach!
*laugh*
It was moving as though it had 10 shots of Tequila!
*huge laugh*

I took two pieces of tissue and grab the ‘drunkard‘, heard the wings crushed as my fingers pressed on it.
With my right arm fully stretched holding onto the crushed tissue on my finger tips, I head for the dustbin, which was also in the same direction where my two frightened boys were standing.
They glided away from me with arms protecting their chest, ready to run if they saw the cockroach slipped out of the tissue paper.

Dumped the creature into the big dustbin.
The end.

I faced Binbin and reminded him again and againthat opening the car door when the car is NOT parked is FORBIDDEN!!!

We held each other’s arms tightly as we walked towards the coffeeshop……
My heart was still pounding fast after we sat down.
I rattled on….as I needed to release my tension….
Allan: “Our car was already stopping (Light has turned amber)and we were on the right lane, so its impossible that any car will come to our right; therefore it is IMPOSSIBLE that Binbin will be knocked down by any car.
Me: “Oh! Really???!”
Oh man!
I think I lost my mind totally when I saw the opened door and did not analyse the surroundings……..
*slap forehead*

STILL!!!!
I hope Binbin will NEVER open the car door again, unless the car is parked or when we give him the permission to do so!

Kitkit surprises me with his thoughts, words and actions very often. Many of which are beyond the norm. Some are creative. Others are absurd. Whatever it is, he surprises me now and then, be it a pleasant surprise or not.

As some of you may know, ever since we moved into our new house during Christmas Eve last year, we had been using an amazing product. It is a REUSABLE non-stick yet sticky (*laugh* I know I am confusing you) product which replaces drilling hooks into our walls. I use the product for almost anything that I need to hang on the wall.

It stays on REALLY WELL! Had been recommending it to many of my friends who came to my house. The setback to this is, they have to ‘catch‘ the seller, because he is always on the move.

Anyways, back to the reason why I am doing this blog post, I believe I had positioned the towel hanger too high for my children and Kitkit had been using too much force on the towel hanger when he needs to hang the towel back. He needed to tip-toe slightly so that he could flip the towel over the rod, and sometimes he could not balance himself on his toes and end up gripping the rod too hard while he finds his balance on the wet toilet floor.

With this happening constantly, one end of it was detached from the wall.

When this product is used CORRECTLY, it is truly an EXTREMELY LONG LASTING product. Sometimes I wonder how the company survives. When the product is so durable, recurring sales is almost near to zero. *shrugged*

Yet, there are some steps which must NOT be skipped before the product can perform to that level of excellence.
Some skills are needed too and somehow, Allan has problem getting it to work to its full potential.
Thus he will often shout for me whenever this product is used.

I hardly go into the toilet in the kitchen.
One day, I entered and was shocked to see that the towel hanger which I pasted on the wall has been shifted.
What surprised me the most was, it was slanted.
For an almost-perfectionist like me, this is NOT allowed!
Thus I know this was NOT done by me.
Who else could it be?
“Allan” I concluded, without the need for a millisecond to think.
Yet, at the same time, I was surprised that Allan did not call for me this time and probably need to go for an eye check to see if his left vision is lower than his right. *eyes rolled*.

I asked if he did it. (Though I concluded it HAD to be Allan earlier, I do not want to jump on him like a ferocious tiger. I chose to seek confirmation first.)
He denied.“Oh!” I was dumbstruck.

At that very moment, I thought I had dementia! Did I paste the towel hanger and actually forgot that I did it???!

Then Kitkit said: “It was me. Few days ago.”
Another dumbstruck moment for me.

Kitkit had seen me using the product, but had NEVER done it on his own before
Something which his dad cannot do, he could!
The best part is, the towel hanger did not drop after being used for few days!
This means that Kitkit had followed the Correct steps to achieve the optimal result which the product is capable of.

Its been months since that ‘dumbstruck day‘ and the towel hanger is still in that slanting position.
Though I cannot accept the look of it, because it is not straight, I left it as it is, to remind me that this is another sign of my 10 year old’s maturity level has gone up again.

The maturity to decide for himself, to solve the problem he created, without asking people to clear the mess he had created.

About Me

Angeline Foong is my name. Making kids happy is my aim. Friends call me kids-crazy because I always adore children and want to be close to them as often as I can. Now that I have two children of my own. I realised that Parenting need NOT be a frustrating experience. With lots of CREATIVITY, love, patience and time, no issue is considered unsolvable. Share with me your woes in parenting your child and I just might have the antidote to your 'poison'. *smile*

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Too shy to say it out loud?
Then email me at angeline@allaboutyourchild.com.